Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Playing politics with child poverty

Today I
received another of the many missives I get from Save the Children asking me to
increase my donations. At the moment, I have not cancelled my standing order
but I am now looking for a similar – but more worthwhile – recipient of my very
modest monthly standing order. Suggestions gratefully received.

Meanwhile,
here’s my e-mail correspondence with the alleged charity now run by Justin
Forsyth, Gordon Brown’s ex-spin doctor. It is no coincidence that the charity
is now campaigning about child poverty in this country.

e-mail to
Save the Children

I hear you
are embarking on a new campaign to relieve child poverty in the UK.

I have
sponsored kids through Save the Children for more than 30 years but I am so
outraged that they have descended into domestic politics I will cancel my
standing order.

Compared
with real poverty, there is nothing to get upset about. This is just a
calculated descent into politicking and I despise it.

Can you
offer me any reasons why I should not abandon Save the Children and transfer my
modest donations to a charity which knows the difference between genuine
poverty and the mild deprivations some children suffer in this country?

Yours
truly,

Nigel
Hastilow

Their reply:

Dear
Nigel

Thank you
for your email. I am extremely sorry to learn that our recent UK appeal has
led you to question your kind support of Save the Children.

It is
simply not the case that this is a political campaign. We have a long history
of challenging governments on the decisions they make that affect children and
Save the Children has also campaigned and worked to tackle UK poverty for
many years. Child poverty is an issue which all political parties need to act
urgently on and as a leading children's charity it is right that we speak out
on children's behalf - children who have told us how tough times are for them.

Save the
Children works anywhere in the world where we see injustice to inspire
breakthroughs for children; we save children’s lives, fight for their rights
and help them fulfil their potential. The UK is no exception. We believe no
child should live in poverty or have their life chances ruined by deprivation.
The countries where we are working with children dying from easily preventable
diseases tend to be amongst the poorest in the world. The UK is one of
the richest countries in the world and children should not be growing up
missing out on basic essentials with their parents skipping meals and in the
most extreme cases going hungry so their children can eat. We are working to
break the vicious cycle which keeps people poor - generation after generation,
because every child born in to poverty is losing their chance of a full and
productive life. It is never the child’s fault.

However, we
are an international charity and work in over 120 countries with some of the
world's most vulnerable children. The majority of our work is overseas in
developing countries. This is where the majority of the funds we receive are
spent and we will continue to work with the poorest children across the world.
This reflects our position as a charity for all children, everywhere.

I would
also like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the support you have
given in the past, which will have made such a positive difference to
children’s lives. I do hope that you may still be able to continue to support
our important work in the future. If you do have any further comments to add,
please do not hesitate to contact me on 020 7012 6400 or email
supporter.care@savethechildren.org.uk.

How can you
possibly claim “It is simply not the case that this is a political campaign”
and, in the very next sentence, say: “Child poverty is an issue which all
political parties need to act urgently on”?

I really do
resent the idea that you are squandering money in this country when there is
real, genuine, murderous poverty in other parts of the world. I think it is a
disgrace.

How many
children on the point of death could have been saved by the money you have
already wasted simply on publicising this campaign?

Their
response:

Dear
Nigel

Thank
you for your email. I am sorry that it has taken longer than I would like to
reply to you.

Save
the Children is an apolitical organisation and as such we are not motivated by political
affiliations. We will always act based on the needs of children, working to
ensure that this mandate is carried out regardless of the political or cultural
circumstances. However, in
order to achieve this mandate it is necessary to work with national
authorities, including governments and politicians, as they have the power to
make the big changes that children need. Therefore, as mentioned we are calling
on all political parties to act. We carry out campaigning and advocacy
work because this tackles root causes, rather than just responding to the
immediate need.

When a
government takes an action towards supporting the needs of children we applaud
that action and likewise we challenge decisions which have a negative impact.
Last year, we undertook a massive campaign for a boost in vaccine funding from
world leaders. Leaders from around the world gathered at a summit for the
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation in London. They had to decide whether or not to
fill a $3.7 billion funding gap that would provide vaccines for 250 million of
the world's poorest children. As a result of our campaigning, pressure and
advocacy work and the hard work and determination of our amazing supporters, a
fantastic $4.34 billion was secured. This will save 4 million children's lives,
which I hope you agree is a phenomenal achievement. More information on this
can be found on the following link http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/vaccines-work.
You may also like to read about our recent successes in encouraging David
Cameron to hold a Hunger
Summit during the Olympics, which will also be in your latest edition of ‘Children
Now.’ We made positive comments on both of these outcomes not because of any
political prejudice or sympathy, but purely for the reason that this funding
and attention will have a dramatically positive impact on the lives of millions
of children.

We also
undertake campaigning and advocacy work overseas. For example, in Sierra
Leone 1.5 million children and their mothers now have access to free
healthcare after an announcement made by the government of Sierra Leone in
September 2010 and implemented from April 2011 following efforts from our
advocacy and campaigns team which highlighted the plight of mothers and
children who were not using health services due to user fees.

Save the
Children has worked in the UK
for over 90 years and throughout our history we have made huge breakthroughs
for children. For example, following a report by Save the Children on the
importance of school meals for children’s nutrition and development, school
meals and milk became free. Today, over half of children living in poverty live
in households where at least one parent works. Currently the cost of childcare
is high – on average £177 a week – so there is little money left over for other
living costs. Save the Children is campaigning for more government childcare
support to make work pay for the poorest families and we are also encouraging
more employers to pay the Living Wage which would give families the ability to
provide the essentials for their children,

These are just a few
examples of what Save the Children have called for in order to make sure that
government policies do what is best for the interest of children. By having no
political affiliations we can be critical of government policies, both here and
overseas in order to improve the lives of children all around the world. You
have also mentioned that you are concerned about the money which is being spent
on our programmes in the UK and other activities and you are very welcome to
read a thorough breakdown on how we raise and spend our money by downloading
our latest Annual
Report from our website. If you would prefer a hard copy of this, please do
provide me with your full address and postcode and I will put one in the post
for you.

Thank you
again for getting in touch with us and for sharing your concerns with us.